We have all had bad mornings. This was yesterday morning's adventure for the Lady.
First off was a stop at the medical lab for the annual blood test. Fasting. No coffee or breakfast. She was out the door by 6:30, thermos of coffee and breakfast in hand for after the blood draw and quickly poured down before the kids show up.
She teaches in a small town. The high school and middle school are on the same two lane road, up a hill from the main highway. It is packed every morning. Corked up, I call it. The Lady usually misses all this by getting to school early. Not this morning. Not with that blood test.
Half way up the hill, in thick traffic, her car "just stops." At 7:20, I'm the first one she calls. Not much I can do but moral support and help with decisions and a plan. She wants to just leave it and run to school. First period is starting. She has to be there. The car is in the road blocking traffic that is now backed up. People are angry, getting around as traffic allows. No one helps, but it's understandable when you see how narrow this road is.
"Call school. You will be late. Someone can cover your first class. Call AAA. Get the car towed to Jeremy's. I'll deal with Jeremy and finding out what's wrong. Things will be okay." I help line out the plan.
The Lady called back. Elizabeth ran down from school and helped her push the car off the road into a driveway. The tow is on the way. She is calmer.
The next phone call, "I'm in the tow truck going to Jeremy's. Elizabeth is picking me up."
I had to wait until 8:00 for Jeremy's shop to open to call. Josh answered. I explained the situation. "I saw her along the road," Josh says. "I was dropping my kid off. She was reading a book. Strange place for that, I thought. Didn't occur to me she was broke down."
Jeremy called at 11:00 am. "We broke the Lady's car," he said.
"Broke it? You broke it? I asked.
"Broke it to the tune of around $3500," Jeremy answered.
"Why? What?" I asked.
"Why?" Jeremy answered. "I guess to teach me character. What? The timing belt slipped a notch, bent valves, did bad things. We have it apart. We cannot find why it happened. Belt looks good, tensioner is okay. All this stuff is brand new. We just replaced everything three weeks ago. We are pulling the engine and doing the heads and getting all new valves. Good news for you is most Subaru engines, later in life, the head gaskets will leak. You won't have that problem to watch for now with new head gaskets. This is all on us. It will be done in a week. I'm sorry she was late for school. She has so many people counting on her. Can I get the Lady a car to use? "
First off was a stop at the medical lab for the annual blood test. Fasting. No coffee or breakfast. She was out the door by 6:30, thermos of coffee and breakfast in hand for after the blood draw and quickly poured down before the kids show up.
She teaches in a small town. The high school and middle school are on the same two lane road, up a hill from the main highway. It is packed every morning. Corked up, I call it. The Lady usually misses all this by getting to school early. Not this morning. Not with that blood test.
Half way up the hill, in thick traffic, her car "just stops." At 7:20, I'm the first one she calls. Not much I can do but moral support and help with decisions and a plan. She wants to just leave it and run to school. First period is starting. She has to be there. The car is in the road blocking traffic that is now backed up. People are angry, getting around as traffic allows. No one helps, but it's understandable when you see how narrow this road is.
"Call school. You will be late. Someone can cover your first class. Call AAA. Get the car towed to Jeremy's. I'll deal with Jeremy and finding out what's wrong. Things will be okay." I help line out the plan.
The Lady called back. Elizabeth ran down from school and helped her push the car off the road into a driveway. The tow is on the way. She is calmer.
The next phone call, "I'm in the tow truck going to Jeremy's. Elizabeth is picking me up."
I had to wait until 8:00 for Jeremy's shop to open to call. Josh answered. I explained the situation. "I saw her along the road," Josh says. "I was dropping my kid off. She was reading a book. Strange place for that, I thought. Didn't occur to me she was broke down."
Jeremy called at 11:00 am. "We broke the Lady's car," he said.
"Broke it? You broke it? I asked.
"Broke it to the tune of around $3500," Jeremy answered.
"Why? What?" I asked.
"Why?" Jeremy answered. "I guess to teach me character. What? The timing belt slipped a notch, bent valves, did bad things. We have it apart. We cannot find why it happened. Belt looks good, tensioner is okay. All this stuff is brand new. We just replaced everything three weeks ago. We are pulling the engine and doing the heads and getting all new valves. Good news for you is most Subaru engines, later in life, the head gaskets will leak. You won't have that problem to watch for now with new head gaskets. This is all on us. It will be done in a week. I'm sorry she was late for school. She has so many people counting on her. Can I get the Lady a car to use? "
